Members of the army salute as JFK stands to attention, during the Arbour Hill ceremony. (NLI, Independent Newspapers Collection)

Arbour Hill

28 June 1963

At 3pm, President Kennedy visited Arbour Hill Cemetery in Dublin. He placed a wreath on the graves of the executed leaders of the 1916 Rising, becoming the first foreign head of state to honour them in a formal ceremony.

JFK was moved and impressed by the ceremony, during which the Army Band played “The Flowers of the Forest” and Chopin’s “Funeral March.” Irish Army Cadets performed the Queen Anne drill, and JFK recalled later that “for me the highlight was the ceremony at Arbour Hill… those cadets were terrific”. Five months later, on 25 November, members of the Irish Army 37th Cadet Class performed that drill at JFK’s funeral at Arlington Cemetery.